He knows well what comes after approving some oppositions because 22 years ago a selective process like the one that more than 10,000 applicants will experience in two weeks. In the case of Juan Pablo Lojendio Quintero (1966, Santa Cruz de Tenerife) he carried out a call addressed to secondary school teachers, but as happens in the commutative property, the order of the factors does not alter the product. «I took the exam when I was 34 years old and had no previous experience in the classroom –before I set up an environmental education company–, that is to say, that I was not listed on the lists, but I entered as a common soldier”, he rescues from a process that ended up giving him a provisional place in an Institute of Guía de Isora (Tenerife) , although that same year he was transferred to the IES Ramón Menéndez Pidal (Gran Canaria).
The educational center located on Calle Pedro Hidalgo in the capital of Gran Canaria was the first destination of a Geography and History teacher who has accumulated endless experiences in institutes in Adeje, La Cruz Santa (Los Realejos) and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. “Before, there was a frequent comment about the teacher, he knows your land, but today you don’t move as much,” says the Santacrucero, now with a fixed position at the IES Benito Pérez Armas, regarding the long chain of destinations that had to be completed once you passed the opposition contest.
Lojendio Quintero began teaching in Las Palmas the same year his daughter Silvia was born. [graduada en Logopedia] and he only had the opportunity to see her on weekends: “I went to Tenerife on Fridays and came back on Sundays, but that situation only lasted a year,” explains a teaching professional who was always clear about his future. “I liked teaching and the theater, but in the end everything leaned towards the world of education,” adding that he continues to be passionate about facing the daily challenge of teaching young people. «Opositing always had it as a reserve option and the year I decided to present myself –he tried it previously with Vocational Training– there were almost two thousand places to fill». This year, on the other hand, there are 990 places at stake and the selection process has undergone some changes: «The opponents of now do not have it easier than when I opposed, but they do have technological resources that did not exist in my time . Then you had to pass a theory test [desarrollar uno de los seis temas del temario]a part related to the LOGSE –law that was in force between 1990 and 2006– and, finally, the entrapment [un tema que te tocaba por sorteo]while in the current ones there is a theme and a practical assumption and, if you pass it, you expose a didactic program and, finally, a theme”, lists a historian who in recent years has accumulated several experiences as president and secretary of processes of teacher selection.
Juan Pablo, father of a second son who these days is preparing the EBAU [Sergio, 18 años], is clear that the world of education is not going through its best days. «If we talk about all the problems that have to be solved on a daily basis, this can take several pages, but this job continues to excite me… With the time I’ve been in this, it’s normal that I was telling things related to the teacher’s syndrome burnt out, but this can be given another twist”, he admits before entering a debate in which teachers usually feel very hurt: vacations. «To those who believe that the life of a teacher is easy, I only say; If this is so simple, prepare some oppositions and put yourself in front of a lot of students. A few years ago, those hasty value judgments bothered me, but with the passage of time you learn that reality is different, ”says a teacher who grew up in the Santa Cruz neighborhood of Tío Pino. “Some of my fellow classmates chose more administrative tasks and at two in the afternoon they lower the blind and go home, but most of us have to prepare for the next day’s class, solve problems, correct exams…”.
Regarding the responsibility he has as a teacher and what his goals are before retirement, which he admits that there are days he looks forward to like rain in May, Juan Pablo says that he continues to be faithful to his principles. «All that content and programs is very good and is a fundamental part of our work, but I am looking for other things. I want my students to have a critical spirit with history, to write well and assimilate a series of skills outside of the compulsory ones », he reiterates in a phase of the interview in which he summarizes the current educational model. «Starting from the idea that there are always brilliant students, most students do the minimum to face an exam and get the right grade. Honestly, I believe that they can give much more but we are influenced by social networks and many technological innovations that have them somewhat confused », he concludes.
